Three's a Charm
by TheMysteriouswatcher
Summary: Isaac is sent to the Necromorphs for round three! This time he brings a friend! AU
1. Chapter 1

-''Get your retarded ass over here.'' CEC engineer Isaac Clarke mumbled to his companion, Alex Riley, as he approached a control panel. Alex Riley, a second grade Elite Specialist, joined Isaac as he overlooked the control panel.

-''Alright, I've barely been informed about this mission. All they said was that I was supposed to help you fix some random shit, and that's about it.'' Isaac sighed at his companion's comment.

-''Can't you stupid hoe shut up? I need to concentrate here.'' He grumbled as he slid his finger over a certain part of the panel.

-''Alright, no need to resort to name calling.'' Alex responded roughly, grip around the handle of the Pulse Rifle tightening. He then looked around the room slightly nervously. Isaac's frown eventually subsided as he activated what he needed to on the panel. He then turned to Alex, reloading his Plasma Cutter.

-''Hey man, sorry for yelling at you. It's just… I've experienced this twice already. I am not happy to be doing it again.''

-''Well, I don't think anyone would be happy to do this shit. I mean, scary-ass monsters running around, trying to bite your ass? I don't think so.'' Isaac was relieved when he heard that at least one of them still had a sense of humour.

-''Let's just get back to that tram station. I don't think that the _USG Rapid _is doing so good. I'm telling you Alex, this is like the Ishimura all over again. I just get sent to repair this stupid ship and of course this is of course infested of Necromorphs. I call that bullshit.''

Alex took the lead down the hallway with Isaac following closely behind.

-''Well.'' Alex began. ''I think we only have to repair the comm.'s array and we'll be done here. We'll get home and we gonna have ourselves a nice, cold beer.''

Isaac ignored his comment. He was about to say something when suddenly a large tentacle appeared, grabbed Alex's foot, and then pulled him out of Isaac's point of view.

-''Goddamnit!'' he heard Alex's voice scream before he set off to chase him.


	2. Chapter 2

-''Holy shit!'' Alex screamed. The tentacle's grip around his grip hardened as it dragged him away, down a hallway, away from Isaac's point of view. He started to sprint, hoping to catch up with his caught friend.

-''Hang on, Alex! I'm on my way!'' Isaac yelled as he heard the frustrated grunts of his companion. Actually, he was more than a companion; he was a friend. Isaac had actually known him far earlier than this, and they had established a pretty good friendship. Then, Alex had attended military duties in a far away country, separating the two. He stayed there to train until just a few months ago coming back to his home country, where he took a course in becoming an Elite Specialist Technicians Expert. He had then been remarked for his excellence in both staying alive and fixing things, and mixed with Isaac's reputation to have handled the previous two outbreaks, the government had decided it would be perfect to team the two up and fix the ship, the _USG Rapid. _They had pretty much fixed the whole ship and were soon to be awaiting a team to take control of the ship. They just had to eradicate the remaining Necromorphs before they called the crew. The problem was that there didn't seem to be an end to the things. Isaac sighed when he recapped all the events inside his head. As it was now, both his brain and his legs were working overtime.

-''Isaac, what are you doing?'' he heard Alex's voice call from further down the hallway. His lungs did their best to maintain his muscles' need for oxygen, and trained as he was, he didn't come to a halt. He sped up, and rounded a corner. He saw Alex being dragged in the distance.

-''Gah-Ugh!'' he grunted as the tentacle pulled him across the floor. ''LET… GO!'' he eventually as he started to fire hectically at the glowing, yellow pustule a few feet away from the claw part of the tentacle. A roar was heard, and the tentacle yanked again, this time knocking Alex's aim out. However, after a few seconds, and to the two survivor's surprises, the tentacle let go without the pustule having been destroyed. It reared up, as if it was looking down at the two, and then swiftly pulled back into one of those holes in the wall. Alex slowly got up to his feet.

-''Wow, that was strange…'' Alex whispered, changing the magazine in his Pulse Rifle. Isaac glanced over at Alex's RIG. It had a deep-toned orange colour. Isaac thought for a second, and then he whipped out a vial of green gel from his inventory. Alex's turned his head towards Isaac, and then at the health pack in his hand.

-''Here. Take it.'' Isaac said shortly. His own RIG had a light blue colour, which made Isaac give it to Alex. He needed it more.

-''Thanks, bro…'' Alex responded in a short, empty manner, just before he injected the vial into his rig. The indicator on his back rose from the orange colour to that of a lighter green. He drew a sigh of relief before activating a panel-like projection which showed all the items he kept in the holographic memory in his suit. In it were two packs of Pulse Rounds, a Stasis Pack as well as three Power Nodes along with three cartridges of Contact Energy and finally a Schematic. Isaac saw the cartridges and chuckled.

-''Dude, you're carrying Contact Energy? We don't even have a Contact Beam yet!'' he said with a kind of scoff. Alex tilted his head in Isaac's direction before closing the projection. He then looked down into the ground and chuckled.

-''You know, if we survive this, I'm gonna tell my wife back home that I fought side by side with the famous Isaac Clarke.'' Isaac wasn't expecting something like that at all. Before he could say anything however, a screech was heard, followed by the familiar sound of claw against metal.

-''We're not out of here just yet…'' Isaac mumbled and raised his Plasma Cutter up in the air, pointing at a nearby hallway. Alex then made a waving gesture with his hand, a signal to indicate that he wanted something.

-''Line Gun, please.'' He asked shortly and with a voice that couldn't even put up with any resistance. Isaac materialized the weapon out of the memory of his suit and handed it to Alex along with two packs of Line Racks. Alex reloaded the weapon and then pointed the weapon up at the ceiling, searching, looking for something to fire at.

-''I think I heard one of them bitches with the three tentacles.'' He said, shifting his targeting from spot to spot. Isaac switched to the other weapon in his arsenal apart from the Plasma Cutter. A rifle with a scope. The Seeker Rifle.

Alex looked around and almost jumped when another screech was heard. He then noticed movement in a faraway hallway. He almost pulled the trigger, but prevented himself from doing just that. He wanted to make sure that he was actually shooting at something and not just find out that he was hallucinating. Then, the Necromorph revealed itself. A small body with four legs, a small head and also three long, slender tentacles sprouting out of its back. It scuttled across the ceiling quickly, tentacles ready to fire their deadly projectiles. Alex took a deep breathe, and aimed at the creature.

Suddenly, another sound was heard from another hallway in the big room. Isaac understood that Alex was busy with targeting the Lurker, and thus he turned to the hallway he had heard the sound come from. He placed a steady finger on the trigger, ready to fire. A few seconds of silence.

Within a single second, hell broke lose. The Lurker occupying Alex leaped onto him with no forewarning. Alex tried to deflect its attack, but it wasn't good enough. The Line Gun was knocked out of his hands and fell to the floor with a clang. He then tried to remove the entity from himself without much success. He stumbled about in the room, still trying to pry the Lurker's grip off of himself. He failed miserably as he felt a stinging pain in his shoulder. He gasped and then fell down to the floor, wildly rolling about, engaging in a furious battle with the Lurker.

Isaac found himself facing other creatures pouring through another doorway. They had blades made of bone sprouting out of their palms, ready to kill. Isaac's grip on the Seeker Rifle tightened as he pulled the trigger for the first time with a scream.


	3. Chapter 3

-''Ugh... Get your ass off of me!'' Alex screamed as he struggled with the Lurker latched onto him. He tried to pry off its small legs, however the bone structure was too strong, and he couldn't even move the leg. The tentacles came down once again as it stabbed him in the shoulder. The armor had protected him for this long, but it wouldn't last much longer if this onslaught continued. Alex kept rolling around on the floor, trying to get a grip on one of the creature's tentacles. It didn't go home for Alex's part, however, as the Lurker continued jabbing its lethal barbs into his RIG, slowly tearing it apart.

-''Isaac? A little help here?'' he grunted as he glanced over to where his friend was situated. It wasn't so good for him either. A Slasher lay dead at his feet, but two more approached from that very same doorway. Isaac switched the magazine in his Seeker Rifle. One of the Slashers then came into the room. It was very fast, lounging at Isaac.

But Isaac was faster. He raised the Seeker Rifle and rammed its stock into the head of the Necromorph, stunning it and knocking it back. He then fired at one of its arms, tearing of the limb cleanly. The Necromorph screamed out with a mixture of pain and anger and snapped out of its stun. Isaac then made use of the Kinesis module installed into his RIG. He engaged the torn off limb out of the air, bringing it to himself. He then activated the thrusters in the module, sending the razor sharp limb whizzing through the air towards the Necromorph in front of him.

The blade pierced the creature spot-on in the chest area and protruded out of the other side, through where the heart sat. The sheer force of the launch caused the Necromorph to lift off the ground and fly backwards along with the limb, just passing the other Slasher, as if being carried by it. The limb's tip then buried itself into the wall behind the Necromorph, pinning it to the wall, rendering unable to escape. The Necromorph slashed at the air in front of it with his remaining arm without much effort. It grunted one last time before it dropped dead, hanging off the wall with the limb piercing its body.

Isaac's attention then shifted to the other Slasher, which was now situated right next to him. He looked at it for a few split seconds before aiming. The bullet then flew through the air, colliding with the left side of its head, not leaving much of it behind. The Slasher jerked backwards, realizing its head was not longer where it once had been. Apparently, the Slasher wasn't going to let that stop it. It shambled towards Isaac's, arms slashing violently in the air. Isaac stepped back slightly, before raising one hand at the creature coming towards him.

A light blue projectile soared through the air towards the Necromorph. It would remind one of ice or something like that. The projectile eventually made contact with the Necromorph, exploding in a fizzling manner, as if someone had cut a power cord and the sparks flew. The Necromorph copied the colour of the projectile, copying that light blue colour. The Necromorph then seemed to move much slower, as if it had been put into slow-motion. The arms barely moved any longer, and the rapid shambling was reduced to that of a little snail.

-''Eat that, you douche-bag!'' Isaac growled, the helmet enclosing his face making his voice sound more threatening than it actually was. He then walked up to the Necromorph, almost as if he was studying its anatomy, its appearance. He then, without much forewarning, placed one hand at the junction point where the bone blade connected with the arm, and twisted it. The blade came off the arm with a sickening crunch, and Isaac held it at its base, glancing at it slightly. He then swiftly shoved the blade into the Necromorph's chest, staggering it as it started to come out of the slow motion effect applied to it. Isaac then swung the stock at it, causing the torso to dislocate from the waist. The Necromorph fell down to the floor. After twitching for a few moments, it lied still.

Alex crashed into the floor once again, having tried to get up. The Lurker had been knocked away after a long battle with the human soldier, whereas the sudden change in weight had caused Alex to lose balance. It now circled its foe with the tentacles locked and ready to fire. Alex retrieved his Line Gun which he had dropped when the Lurker attacked him. He made himself comfortable having it in his hands. He then raised it, pointing it and activating the flashlight at the Lurker. It hissed and then continued circling Alex. Alex kept facing it, the two waiting for the other to make a fatal mistake and thus create an opening in their defence. An opening that would be fully used by the opposite.

The Lurker attacked first. It leapt towards Alex, shrieking. Alex read the attack however, and sidestepped it before it could do any damage to him. He then caught it under his foot, eventually crushing it under his weight. When the Lurker was reduced to a messy pool of flesh and blood, Alex glanced over to Isaac.

-''I think we should get out of here. If only four bitches were stressing, imagine what even more would be.'' Isaac could only agree, and without any other words, he followed Alex into another hallway leading to a Tram station.


	4. Chapter 4

-''What do you think they are, originally?'' Isaac asked as he glanced at Alex, who was sitting on a bench. They had called the team waiting back at earth and reported them that the _USG Rapid _was ready to be retrieved. Alex attention shifted to Isaac, him surprised of the question. He shrugged and looked up into the ceiling of the tram station.

-''I dunno, man… I kill the things, I don't study them.'' He responded in a short manner. He kept fiddling with the Line Gun in his hands, cocking it and uncocking it. He aimed it at the air, looking as if he was gonna fire the weapon. It was apparent that he was bored.

-''Actually, what I want to know is why they cancelled our order to eradicate the remaining Necromorphs in this big piece of metal.'' Alex then asked nobody, sitting himself down beside Isaac. Isaac looked over at his RIG. It had a bright blue colour, representing that Alex was pretty healthy. They still had a lot of ammo and health packs, although in the heat of battle, one's stock of precious items could get wasted very rapidly. Isaac made sure the two stayed as conservative as possible with their supply stock; Dismember Necromorphs whenever possible, trying to use close combat strategies to conserve as much ammo as possible, anything that could minimize their need to use their supplies.

-''I don't know, and I don't really care. Right now, I just wanna go home. I'm fed up with this scary-ass 'adventure'.'' Isaac couldn't do much but agree. This was very stressing indeed, and no one would actually like doing it. Why listen to the idiots who say: ''and look happy while doing it!'' Big no.

-''Well, rather sacrifice two people to go up there and erase the fuckers than having them spread throughout the galaxy, and eventually to earth, right?'' Isaac then commented, confirming their thinking: ''-for the greater good!'' Alex snorted at the comment before getting up from the bench.

-''Just because you like to get torn apart, by… things with arms that ain't right.'' Isaac looked at his friend again with a snicker. Alex connected back with a smile. A loud, banging sound was then heard again, before a large car-looking object came into view.

-''Bro!'' Alex piped up. ''I think our ride is here.'' Isaac walked over to the tram and waited until the door opened. When it didn't at first, Isaac got curious. He walked up to the door before knocking on it. When it still didn't open, Isaac got slightly angry. He banged on the door, Plasma Cutter in hand. The door then opened with a creaking sound. Isaac stepped back in surprise. What he saw shocked him and caused him to shout.

The Puker moved with breakneck speed. It threw up its acidic bile in the fashion of a cascade, showering it over the two survivors. Alex fell down to floor and rolled about, having tripped when the Puker attacked. Isaac then readied his Plasma Cutter and started firing at it. He only got off two rounds into one of its arms before the creature threw up once again, knocking Isaac off of his feet. He grunted and then reached for the Plasma Cutter which had been knocked out off his grasp. He then gasped in fear as the Puker towered above him, readying its bile. He covered his head with one of his arms, awaiting the deadly shower.

He then heard a roar of anger. He looked up and saw Alex throwing himself at the Puker with his head first. The Puker was caught off guard, not having time to properly aim its spray. It splashed randomly around, not hitting any of them. It then fell to the floor with a thud and an inhuman grunt. Alex then rapidly smashed the Line Gun into its head, stunning and disorienting it. He then aimed the Line Gun at the shoulder parts, pulling the trigger twice in a rapid succession. The two shots severed one arm each, and Alex then stomped its chest, crushing it, turning it into a bloody paste. It died with a soft grunt.

-''Huh… I wonder how that stupid hoe got into the tram car…'' Alex mumbled, reloading the weapon. A dizzy Isaac got up from the floor, but not before grabbing and reloading his trusty Plasma Cutter. He also used one of the Medium Packs in his RIG. The colour of the meter shifted from a sickly dark green to a healthier light blue. He drew a sigh of relief as the pain eased with the healing effects of the gel sipped into his body, lifting a heavy burden. Luckily, the armor he was wearing was actually designed to withstand attacks from Necromorphs, the Puker being one in particular. Alex entered the tram car.

-''Man, who died in here?'' he asked with a grunt, symbolising disgust. Isaac walked over to the car, smelling something that reminded him of rotten fruit mixed with certain chemicals. He coughed slightly and then had a look inside the tram. There were no signs that indicated that it had been inhabited by a monster minutes ago, except for some claw markings on the walls as well as some small amounts of still corrosive bile on the floor. He walked over to the control panel and touched it.

-''Well.'' He began.'' The navigation system seems to be functioning. It's a good thing that that thing didn't fuck it up.'' Alex then joined him at the control panel. It showed the part of the _USG Rapid_. It was the comm.'s array station. After they had repaired it, they had contacted military forces back at Earth that the ship was ready to be retrieved. They had also asked about their orders to eliminate remaining Necromorphs, but these had been dismissed. According to the Lieutenant, the military forces were equipped with ''New and improved weapons and armor, designed to withstand the attacks of the creatures. The two had just laughed at this, especially Isaac, when he remembered how it had gone for Tiedemann's soldiers. They were torn apart.

-''Alright, let's get to the docking deck. I wanna get out of here!'' Alex yelled and sat himself down on a bench inside the tram car. Isaac hesitated for a few seconds before selecting ''Docking Deck''.


	5. Chapter 5

Alex stepped off of the tram, Isaac following closely behind. His boots made light, clinking sounds when they came into contact with the metallic floor. He looked up at the ceiling. There was a sign saying ''Docking Deck''. This was their final destination. From here, they would be picked up and transported back to earth by EarthGov. Alex stretched and grunted of relief. Isaac did the same.

-''Dude…'' Alex began. ''You've faced these fuckers three times now, and you beat 'em every time!'' he finished his sentence. Isaac chuckled as they ascended the stairs leading to the space lock leading to the dock itself. A static was then heard, and shortly after a screen appeared in front of Isaac's RIG. It showed a picture of a female.

-''Isaac! Isaac Clarke! Can you hear me? My name is Taylor Coran. I believe you were sent to repair the _USG Rapid_, right?'' Her voice spoke, being distorted by the RIG's audio quality. She had long, blonde hair, light beige skin with eyes blue as the sky along with lips the size of crescent moons. Isaac felt attracted to the woman the first second. He straightened his back.

-''That is correct.'' He responded shortly, his voice almost cracking. He then glanced over at Alex. He could basically see the smile through his helmet. Like it was just saying ''you just got hit by the arrows of Amor!'' He felt his face redden behind the helmet. Lucky it was there.

-''Good.'' The woman said. ''We're sending two teams shortly. One to evacuate you, and one to gain control of the ship. And Isaac…'' She paused, sighing. Isaac kept looking at the projection. ''Nice work taking out those things.'' Isaac sighed and responded with a short ''yeah'', and then with a ''It's what I do.'' The woman in the projection smiled.

-''Hey, who's your friend over there?'' She asked as she saw Alex leaning against a nearby wall. Isaac fully turned towards him. He was looking in another location. The Line Gun dangled beside him in his closed fist.

-''What you thinkin' about, bro?'' Isaac then said, startling him. He looked at his friend and then back at the projection in front of him. ''A good friend.'' He said as an answer to the woman's question.

-''Alright, the ship is just a mile away from the _Rapid_ now. You might wanna pack your stuff.'' Isaac was about to respond, when a deep, loud roar was heard in the distance. Alex immediately jerked away from the wall.

-''Did you hear that?'' he asked with a trembling voice. His self-confidence had just got nailed pretty bad. Isaac looked at the projection once again.¨

-''We got a problem, Taylor… I'll get back to you shortly.'' Before the woman could respond, Isaac closed the projection. He then faced Alex and asked him to open his RIG's memory. He had those Contact Beam cartridges, along with all the other stuff. But when Isaac's gaze fell to the part in the inventory which held the weapons, his eyes went wide.

-''You got a Contact Beam!'' he yelled accusingly. Alex took a step backwards and raised his arms defensively. With a calm and collected voice, he responded.

-''Dude, listen. I just downloaded this bad boy from a store 15 minutes ago. Don't think that I've kept it away from you or anything. I just got it.'' He explained. Isaac calmed down, realizing it wasn't really a thing to fight about. But then he brought the preparation up again.

-''Alright, that there sounded like one of those really big things, the ape-like ones. May I?'' He asked while he signed at the Line Gun Ale was holding. Alex handed it to him with no protests, but not before checking it was reloaded. Instead, he materialized his Contact Beam. He gripped it with both hands, aimed to check that it was functioning, and then checked his ammo reserves. Three full slots along with the ammo that was already in the gun. He racked the gun shortly before another roar was heard, closer this time.

-''Son of a bitch's gettin' closer…'' Alex mumbled without looking up from the Contact Beam. When he was done examining the weapon, he looked back at Isaac. His helmet dislocated and revealed his face. Young, smooth skin, green eyes and a stunning hair colour of a variation of blonde. He sighed and then coughed. Dust spewed from his hair.

-''Man, these helmets are so suffocating! Ya can barely breathe while in 'em!'' he waved his hand repeatedly in front of his face to clear away the dust. Isaac laughed at his friend, mind temporarily forgetting about the fact that one of death's bringer was on its way. When a third, intimidating roar was heard, both of them stopped what they were doing. Instinctively, Isaac gripped his trusty Plasma Cutter with both his hands. Even though he had requested the Line Gun, he intended to use it only if they were about to be overwhelmed by the fearsome Necromorph; he had killed several Brutes using only a Plasma Cutter before. He could sure as hell do it again.

-''We better get ready.'' Alex exclaimed when thumps were finally heard. Both their helmets retracted over their faces. It was then completely silent for a few seconds. Alex's grip of the Contact Beam tightened. A few seconds…

Then, a section of the wall just left of them caved in, crushed by the Brute. Isaac instinctively fired the Plasma Cutter, aiming carefully and hitting one of the weak spots just around the creature's shoulder joint. It then roared and charged at the two survivors. Isaac managed to jump out of the way just in time. Alex did the same.

-''Alex, Stasis!'' Isaac yelled to his friend. Alex nodded and let out his hand. A light blue, sparkling projectile shot out of his palm. It whizzed through the air and then smashed into the Brute, causing its slowing effects to apply to it. The arms slowly came up in the air as the creature roared once more. Alex then started to charge the Contact Beam, aiming it at the shoulder joint. He closed one eye, and felt the weapon vibrate in his hands. With a scream from Alex, the red-coloured beam shot out of the barrel of the weapon. Almost instantaneously, the beam contacted with the creature's shoulder, causing orange-coloured blood to spew out from a wound in the joint. As the Stasis effects wore off, the arms came down again, shaking the ground.

Suddenly, a nearby vent just behind Alex, seemingly exploded as a Slasher leaped out of it. Alex turned around immediately, looking at it, completely forgetting about the Brute. He then had to sway backwards with his upper body as its blade whizzed by his head by a couple of inches. He then rammed the stock of the weapon into its temple, staggering it. Before it could recover and retaliate, he had charged the gun and fired it. The red beam smashed into the creature, causing it to explode into several pieces while flying backwards. The head actually popped right back into the vent and disappeared. Alex then heard Isaac yell something.

-''What?'' he asked as he turned around.

-''Alex, look out!'' he heard his friend yell. Two seconds after, he felt an intense, crushing pain as the Brute's fist smashed into him, knocking him hard into the wall.


End file.
